University of Iowa gets jab from House Republicans in budget discussion

Iowa House Democrats say the Republican majority is playing dirty politics by pitting state universities against each other and endangering a tuition freeze that the Iowa state Board of Regents promised Iowans.

The Iowa House last night voted to give the University of Iowa less state funds than the other two state universities, arguing UI has a "tremendous cash reserve" and fewer in-state students than the other universities. House Democrats were incensed and called the action "an attack on UI."

"There is no logical reason, other than to poke the University of Iowa in the eye," said state Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville. "It is a long-standing political fight that" House Republicans have with UI.

"Frankly, it is getting kind of old," he added.

The Iowa House voted Tuesday to increase spending on the state's three public universities by $22.2 million, but Democrats say the plan isn't fair and complicates efforts to freeze in-state tuition next fall.

The vote includes $4.5 million in new money for UI, $6.9 million more for Iowa State University and $7.7 million for the University of Northern Iowa.

But here's the rub: Before the session, the regents promised lawmakers they could hold in-state tuition steady for a second year in a row if the state boosted funding by at least 4 percent for all three of the state's public universities. Instead, the House voted to give the 4 percent increase to ISU and UNI, but only 2.1 percent to UI. The balance of UI's 4 percent was given to UNI.

After more than an hour of debate, lawmakers approved the budget on a partisan 53-45 vote.

Jacoby said the bill is now with the state Senate, which will "most likely not concur" with the House. From there, the bill would go to a conference committee where Jacoby said the funding issue will be ironed out and UI will probably get the funding it was promised.

Jacoby said the bill was nothing more than a display of the House Republicans' "disdain for the Iowa Hawkeyes."

Bill sponsor Cecil Dolecheck, a Republican from Mount Ayr, said UI could survive with less state money because it has enough cash reserve to fall back on.

Jacoby said House Republicans also argued that UI has too many out-of-state students and the cost of training students at UI is too expensive.

"But they were comparing the cost of educating a freshman from UNI and ISU to the cost of being a medical resident at the University of Iowa," Jacoby said. "It was totally goofy numbers. It is nothing more than a poke in the eye of Hawkeyes."

State Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, said, "We've broken the agreement, because giving a 2.1 percent increase to the University of Iowa is not what was agreed to by the governor and the Board of Regents."